Create It

I finally hung a wreath on our front door. Winter weather has continued to make its presence known throughout the month of March and April. It's been getting a little wearisome. I decided, ready or not, I wanted to begin decorating outdoors for spring: First step: A welcoming spring wreath!

Originally, I was going to embellish a simple, yellow forsythia wreath with a bow and possibly a welcome spring sign. Then, I noticed a neighbor's lush hydrangea wreath in pretty shades of pink. It got me thinking and browsing the aisles of Michael's florals.

These blushing, peachy, pink peony floral bunch caught my eye at 50% off and I was committed to creating a luscious, beautiful spring wreath!

I wanted to get the most bang for my buck. I began with materials I had:

Step One: Use the "Naturally Wired" grapevine wire to wire the two grapevine wreaths together. This was a tip I've adopted from Yvonne at Stone Gable blog. She suggests wiring two wreaths together to achieve the look of a designer/high-end wreath for very little money. Yvonne has some wonderful wreath tutorials and so-o-o-o much more. Click Here the link to her blog: Stone Gable.

Cut four lengths of natural wire with wire cutters about 12 inches in length.

Wrap and twist the natural wire around four different spots on the wreath.

Step 2: Use wire cutters to snip the peony floral bunch into individual stems. This is my tip to make the most of a floral bunch. Repeat this step with the remaining floral bunch and greenery.

Step 3: Start with the showy floral peonies. Use the grapevine wreath as a sort of floral frog to begin securing the peony flowers to the wreath. An alternative is to use hot glue or floral wire to secure the stems, but I've always found using the tangle of grape vines holds the stems securely. (Then, I can dismantle the wreath and remake it for another season!)

At this point, there are five peonies and a rose bud secured to the wreath. I had about 4 more rosebuds to add, but I decided to add some greenery, and save the rosebuds for fillers. I also like a 3/4 look to the wreath. It's personal preference. One could fill the whole wreath with another few bunches of flowers.

At this point, I thought I might be finished, All that I had left to add was the eucalyptus leaves. I chose the florals and the greens for this piece for color and texture. The eucalyptus leaves definitely bring additional texture with their unique shape. I decided to add them in. (After all, that is the beauty of using the grapevine as a floral frog. I can always take stems out and/or rearrange them to my liking.)

Almost finished: Need to add eucalyptus leaves.

Step 6: Secure eucalyptus leaves to the wreath.

Step 7: Use remaining stems to fill in the wreath. Adding stems on the sides gives the wreath a very lush appearance.

Helpful Tip: I use all the bits and pieces to embellish a wreath, even leaves and florals that "shed" from the stems when being handled to secure them to the wreath. These orphan pieces can act as filler. They can be secured with hot glue to the wreath or wire. In this case, I created wire bobby pins/bent pins and threaded them through the leaves that had shed from the greenery.

The extra greenery can be secured into the grapevine wreath using the bobby pin that you have created.

Step 8: Make a bow. I like to use wired ribbon whenever possible. This ribbon had a heavier weight to it and was on sale at 50% off. I felt the check was the perfect shade to compliment the silvery greenery that I am so fond of in this piece.

Step 9: Attach bow with floral wire. The placement is a personal choice. I chose to attach the bow to the top and left of center. I use to leave the tails of the bow fairly long, but then they end up hiding the floral pretties. I've studied other wreaths that I admire and realize that most of the tails are trimmed, so as not to flap over the florals.

Here is my "Welcome Spring" wreath hung on my front door. Yes, the reflection is the result of actual sunshine!

I was so pleased with this one, that I made a matching, smaller one for the lamp post.

I am loving this ribbon from Michael's. It is just so sweet. The blushing peony bunches and ribbon became my inspiration for my spring outdoor decorating. More to come on that!

How do you welcome spring? We'd love to here about it. I, for one, am so-o-o ready to get digging in the dirt and literally smelling the flowers. Enjoy!